EU Key
European terrorism legislation may be revised12.12.2014Justice
and home affairs ministers of the EU's Member States have agreed
to assess the need to update the EU's 2002 Framework Decision
on combating terrorism, in order to take into account the requirements
of a recent UN Security Council Resolution on foreign terrorist
fighters.

The legally-binding Security Council (UNSC)
Resolution 2178 was adopted in September and requires states
to ensure, amongst other things, that their legal systems
provide for the prosecution, as serious criminal offences, of
travel for terrorism or related training, as well as the financing
or facilitation of such activities. [1]

The decision to consider revising Framework
Decision 2002/475/JHA on combating terrorism was made at the
Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting earlier this month,
[2] and goes against previously stated preferences for new national,
rather than EU, legislation.

At a meeting of the Council of the EU's
Article 36 Committee on 31 October, a majority of Member States
said they were in favour of meeting the requirements of the UNSC
Resolution through changes to national law, arguing that the
timing aspect of providing an effective judicial response in
this respect is particularly relevant. [3]

They were responding to a proposal from
the EU's Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, Gilles de Kerchove, to
revise the 2002 Framework Decision to cover even earlier
stages of preparatory acts or tackling the terrorist intent requirement
from a broader perspective.

The Framework Decision on combating terrorism
has already been amended once, in 2008, when new offences on
public provocation, recruitment and training for terrorism were
added.

Member States and the EU are already working
to implement an extensive set of measures intended to address
"foreign fighters and returnees", as well a revised
'Strategy for Combating Radicalisation and Recruitment to Terrorism'.
[4]

Proposals

With the commitment by ministers to to
assess the need to update the EU legislation, suggestions
made by the Counter-Terrorism Coordinator will likely be under
consideration.

In an October paper he said a debate would
benefit from exploring different approaches to this matter which
would not require a direct terrorist intent, such as criminalising
joining armed forces abroad, which would include non-State actors
or criminalising the violation of a travel ban to leave the country.

He also suggested some potentially less
punitive measures: taking into account the increasing number
of young adolescents engaging in foreign fighter activities,
alternatives to prison sentences, such as probation measures
and participation in re-integration programmes need to be explored.
[5]

A follow-up discussion paper produced by
the Coordinator for the Council meeting remains secret. [6]

New national legislation

The decision to consider revising the EU's
terrorism legislation comes as many Member States are implementing
new laws to meet the requirements of UNSC Resolution 2178.

France adopted new legislation on 4 November
that a member of the French Communist Party referred to as the
French Patriot Act, in reference to the controversial
US legislation of the same name.

The legislation imposes sentences of up
to ten years and fines of up to 150,000 on anyone
found to be simultaneously in possession of dangerous objects
or substances (such as explosives and weapons), and consulting
terrorist websites or receiving terrorist training.

It also gives the French Data Protection
Authority the power to block websites that glorify terrorism
without judicial approval, and allows the imposition of entry
and exit bans on individuals whenever there are serious
reasons to believe that [they] are planning to travel abroad...
to take part in terrorist activities, war crimes or crimes against
humanity. [7]

Some of the provisions in the French legislation
were proposed in July, before Resolution 2178 was agreed, and
led the Danish government to consider new legislation. [8]

At the end of November the government of
Luxembourg proposed new legislation based on the UNSC Resolution
aimed at preventing radicalised fighters from reaching
terrorist fighters in war zones. It could be passed before the
end of the year. [9]

At a UN debate on 19 November, the Spanish
representative stated that the country's government was working
to prevent recruitment and traveling of foreign fighters and
was strengthening its legal regime in that light. [10]
A report by the Law Library of the US Congress from October says:

The aims of the proposed [Spanish]
legislation are to give domestic courts jurisdiction to prosecute
persons joining jihadist groups, deter the flow of foreign fighters
into the ranks of the Islamic State (IS), and, most importantly,
help control the threat they pose on their return to their countries.
[11]

In the UK the government recently published
a new counter-terrorism bill  the seventh in 14 years 
which is currently being examined by the parliament's Home Affairs
Committee. [12] The bill includes new powers to introduce travel
bans, internal exile, the ability to prevent people from returning
to the UK, and to compel communications service providers to
identify internet users by IP address.

The UK's reviewer of terrorism legislation,
David Anderson QC, has raised a number of concerns about the
legislation, [13] as have civil liberties groups. Shami Chakrabati
of Liberty referred to some of the proposals as a chilling
recipe for injustice. [14]

Meanwhile, in Germany, some 300 people
are currently facing prosecution for supporting Islamic State,
which Justice Minister Heiko Mass said was a sign that
anti-terrorism laws were working and tougher legislation was
not needed. [15]

Further efforts

In mid-November the Security Council reiterated
its concern over foreign fighters, calling for States,
the United Nations and other partners to target the root causes
to terrorism as they redoubled efforts to eradicate that scourge
in all its forms and manifestations.

States should make better use of Interpol's
databases and, in order to detect departure from, entry
into, or transit through their territories to individuals on
the Al-Qaida sanctions list, states should oblige airlines
to provide them with advance passenger information (API) and
Passenger Name Records (PNR).

The Security Council also anticipates new
blacklisting measures to address the transfer of economic resources
to, from or by terrorist groups, and urged States to counter
violent extremist propaganda on the Internet and social media
by developing effective counter-narratives, stressing the importance
of partnering with civil society and the private sector in such
efforts.

In a statement the Security Council said:
Terrorism will not be defeated by military force, law enforcement
measures and intelligence operations alone, and noted the
need to address the conditions conducive to its spread and the
factors driving recruitment and radicalisation. [16]

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